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Susan Reynolds living and working ‘the the midst of art’

August 12, 2019   ·   0 Comments

By Constance Scrafield

Although Susan Reynolds, Tourism Officer and the Lobby Curator for Theatre Orangeville, does not consider herself an artist, she quite modestly admits, “I putter, I do lots of things – I’m able to do things but I don’t call myself an artist. 

“I was just brought up in the world of art – my mother and my brother were art teachers. So, I was brought up in the midst of art.”

At least, she might agree that she is a creative person, “I used to make baskets; [husband] Tony and I used to weave reproduction blankets and we used to do the One of a Kind Show when it was in the Queen Elisabeth Building [at the Exhibition grounds]. We used to be weavers, many years ago, but I’ve never taken myself seriously. I used to love weaving baskets and many years ago I used to give baskets workshops. I stopped dong that for other pursuits.

“Tony and I coordinate the exhibits in the theatre, for 12 years now,” she commented, which explains the second half of her job title. “We’ve kind -of put together more than 90 shows in the lobby.”

It is clearly Ms. Reynolds’ passion to bring art to kids, as she says, “I used to be on the Headwaters Festival Board. I was head the kids program; that was in the 90’s. It’s changed now completely. It just evolved in different directions: different people on the board had different ideas.”

Further, for the kids, “In the late ’80s and ’90s, Joan Hope [owner of Dragonfly] and I used to do the Gingerbread Playhouse, bringing in kids’ performers. We had Mr Dressup and other kids’ performers. It was fun and that was when our kids were little. It was a subscription series, sponsored by the Ontario Arts Council. It was great.”

She continued to say, “I kind of lean toward the coordinating. When Victorian Christmas moved to the hotel, Ann Johnson and I chaired that for the first two years that it was in the Best Western. [At the time] it was mainly outside people that were on the committee. We didn’t have Beckie doing the stage; we had to do that ourselves.

“It’s great that the theatre staff do it now. Basically, the event is pretty much the same. Now, that they do the tech., there’s a lot more going for it in the way of presentation.”

Remembering it, “We had a very tiny budget; everything we had to find.We used things from previous Victorian Christmases when it was held at the Agri Centre.

“It was still a terrific event. People loved it and it was great. And it still is and it’s great that other staff from the theatre are involved with the committee.”

Still very much wanting to contribute, she said, “I make small decoration for sale. I thought that people would like to take something home that had maybe lost their bid, [in the silent auction] as a memento of the event,” adding, “well, it was just an opportunity to make money for the theatre and I enjoyed doing them, not this year but I will again.

Ms. Reynolds has also enjoyed travelling in Canada and overseas. “I’ve been to India and few places in Europe; we’ve been across Canada.”

Local art is always her prime interest and, most particularly, textiles. “I love to find what is local,” she offered, “I’m always looking to see traditional knits in Newfoundland; and, in Nova Scotia, I look for the knits – they’re different there. In B.C., the native art, I’m always looking for something authentic to the area, something traditional. 

“When I was in India, I loved the block printing and the indigo dyeing.

“In England, there’s a lot of fibre art. I love that. There’s William Morris felting. My mom was a weaver. We were together at One of a Kind.

“When we’re travelling,” Ms. Reynolds commented, “we’re looking for artists all the time. We have been to the Tate [in London}. And when we went to Dublin, we went to the gallery; there were contemporaneity and traditional artists. It was just incredible.”

As for what is here in Orangeville, “I just love the variety and talent and I’m just in awe of the talent here. It’s so fresh. People keep coming here and you see lots of new things all the time.”

Even as a child in England, “We were always involved with the arts.”

Is it an artist’s job to be a social commentator, this writer wanted to ask her.

“By all means,” she replied, “if they have the opportunity, if they have a platform. Absolutely.”

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